Senate Passes Amendment by Landrieu, Snowe to Bring Parity to Small Business Contracting Programs

An amendment proposed by Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Ranking Member Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) passed the Senate on July 23, 2009 as part of the FY10 DOD Authorization bill (S.1390). The amendment will place three small business government contracting programs – HUBZone, 8(a) and service-disabled veterans – on an equal playing field when competing for business. Click hereto view the amendment. This amendment aims to "bring parity to the SBA's contracting programs", said Chair Landrieu. This amendment was written in response to two GAO decisions from September 2008 and May 2009 that challenged the long-standing SBA interpretation that the Agency's procurement programs should be treated equally when awarding contracts. The GAO decisions led some agencies to interpret the GAO findings as giving preference to the HUBZone program. The OMB recently issued a directive clarifying the Administration's view that the HUBZone program should not have priority over the other programs click here to read the memo from OMB.

WIPP continues to support programs to give all small businesses an equal opportunity to succeed in the federal marketplace. We applaud Landrieu and Snowe for this amendment.